There’s a very specific type of branding advice online that makes me want to slowly tear the skin off my body:
It’s all SOOO black-and-white (pun intended). So certain. So weirdly obsessed with rules. And I say weirdly, 'cause the brands people *actually* remember, usually break at least half those rules without even knowing.
So when Aiza from Studio Coya challenged me to get nerdy about some of these... opinions, just know I held nothing back. (P.S. = don't forget to listen to part 1 of this chat on Aiza's podcast!)
Excuse me... says who?!
I don't when we began to lose the plot, but somewhere along the line, people decided “professional” had to mean void of personality: beige websites, neutral palettes, arms-crossed photoshoots where everyone looks like they’re auditioning to become a corporate lawyer.
Okay, sorry for that rant (and if that genuinely aligns with your brand? Fine... I guess).
But the problem starts when people think they have to look that way to be taken seriously. Because being premium (charging higher prices, booking better clients...) has absolutely nothing to do with whether your brand uses colour, humour, bold visuals, or playful messaging.
Premium is about the experience YOU create (in fact, I'd highly recommend tuning into this episode with Harriet Evans on that). It’s the quality of your work. The trust you build. The clarity of your offer. The way clients feel when interacting with your brand.
Disney is playful as hell. It’s also expensive. Those things are NOT mutually exclusive.
And I think we still subconsciously associate colourful or personality-filled brands with being childish because, as adults, we slowly “beige-ify” our lives. Our wardrobes. Our homes. Our businesses... I could go on.
You're going to notice we say this a lot, but... it depends. Because I do think colour psychology becomes fluff when it’s oversimplified into:
Like… according to WHO exactly?
There’s way too much context involved for colour to mean one universal thing: different shades create different feelings & whole industries, cultures and geography shape associations.
A bright fast-food red feels completely different from a deep burgundy. Light blue in the food industry often signals “low fat” or “zero sugar”. But in another context it could feel soft, calming, playful, or corporate. Which is why I think colour psychology is more about recognising patterns. Because patterns do exist.
Banks often use blue. Luxury brands often lean minimal. The wellness space tends to drown itself in sage green.
The important thing, as someone building their own brand, is deciding whether you want to follow those patterns… or disrupt them.
For that, one of my favourite exercises with clients is analysing everyone else in their industry first. And nine times out of ten, they’re all using the exact same visual language (same colours, layouts, vibe). Which then, honestly, makes standing out a LOT easier once you notice it.
This is why branding's SOOO interesting: 'cause your goal isn’t to blindly pick colours based on a psychology chart from Pinterest. It’s to intentionally choose what your brand wants to communicate AND understand how your audience might interpret it.
Yes: audiences connect more with human content. We can't deny personal brands are everywhere, and people want faces, stories & behind-the-scenes moments over AI slop any freakin' day.
But that doesn’t suddenly mean branding disappears.
If your account looks too personal, people stop seeing it as a business altogether. If every single post is a perfectly designed Canva graphic, it creates distance between yourslef & your audience.
The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle.
Your audience should recognise your content without feeling like they’re staring at a digital brochure 24/7.
That recognition can come from templates, yes. But it can also come from repeated visual choices:
Even the clothes you wear regularly can become part of your visual branding! (which is why I love when clients accidentally decorate their homes in their future brand colours without realising.)
The issue isn’t templates themselves... It's when people start forcing their content to fit a template, instead of designing templates around the content they naturally create.
Yeah, I know. You wanted 100% "Yes" or "No" answers to these. And that's the problem I see with most branding advice online... there's not enough nuance. Everybody wants to have the only right answer to things.
But branding doesn’t work like that, because people don’t work like that.
The more your brand reflects your actual personality, perspective & vision, the easier it becomes to consistently market yourself without feeling like you’re putting on a weird little business costume every day.
And that’s far more memorable than another beige square on Instagram ever will be.
—
✦ Listen to part 1 of this episode on Aiza's podcast!
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Brand Chef & Designer
Over the last 5 years as a Brand & Marketing Designer, I’ve helped freaks like us design their unconventional brands so they can step onto the main stage & own their weird. Because if you wanted to be, look or sound like everyone else, you wouldn’t be where you are today. Now it’s your turn.
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